How Can Identity Verification Tools Help in the On-Going Combat Against Fraud?

Identity theft has always been an issue that affects millions of families worldwide every year, but in 2020, these figures rose to new heights. In the US alone, there were 1.4 million cases in the last year. That is over double the number of stolen identities in 2019!

Fortunately, developing problems lead to the development of technologies to cope with them. There are many identity verification services that you can use to ensure that your business isn't being duped as to who it works with. Read on to learn what ID verification services are, how they can be used digitally, and what tools are out there to help you mitigate fraud.

What Is Identity Verification?

Identity verification is the process of making sure a person is who they say they are before proceeding with any financial processes.

Some occasions on which this may be necessary are when a person is opening a bank account or applying for a personal loan. Identity verification is also necessary for those who are opening business loans to ensure that they are the true owner of said organization.

This is critical to preventing fraud because unverified people can pretend to be whoever they wish. For example, someone may try to pose as a more well-off person by stealing someone's credit card account and applying for apartments using their credit score. Identity verification tactics ensure that these people are caught and are unable to make any purchases or sign any contracts under another person's name.

While people used to check buyer and applicant identities in other ways, digital verification is the norm in 2021. Individuals and businesses need to check the identities of those they work with to prevent not only identity theft but also data breaches and the installation of malware into their bank accounts, networks, and Cloud-based data storage (that may contain sensitive information).

Who Can Use These Services?

Identity verification services are necessary for many people. Some of these users include:

• Realtors and realty firms trying to ensure that the home is being bought using the correct person's name/account
• Renters of apartments, condos, and houses that want to make sure that the person is who they say they are before renting
• Potential employers that want to see and verify that a person has no criminal background or history of theft
• Insurance agents need to see that the person who is registering is the same as the person who will be insured
• Loan providers who aim to prevent fraud
• Banks who want to see that the correct person is opening the account

What Tools Can You Use to Prevent Identity Fraud?

There are many different ways that you can digitally authorize that an individual is who they say they are. These tools can be used when a person and their ID document (drivers' license, social security card, etc) are not physically present. In a world where people are applying for homes, loans, bank accounts, jobs, and college courses online, this is a boon.

One of the most easy-to-access tools for checking identity is an online ID verification service. While this is by no means the end-all-be-all of background checks, it is a good place to begin checking the legitimacy of a person's identity. You will get some basic information on the person including their place of residence, criminal history, credit score, and more.

The goal of ID verification is to gain, extract, and analyze an ID. This will make sure that any government-issued IDs are authentic and therefore help people discern what is real vs what is fake.

A person will send the authenticator an image of their ID from a smartphone camera. AI will then analyze the image and create an authenticity score. Assuming that it passes this test, the viewer will then provide the service to the individual.

Beyond Viewing an ID

Once you verify that the person in the provided photo is indeed real, you will need to use other (more detailed) identity verification tools. This will stop people from using the images of others to gain services in a fake or fraudulent name that they purchased illegally. Some of the most important and prominent include:

• Liveness detection (finds out whether a photo of a person is genuine by detecting face masks, stock images, or photos of photos)
• Biometric verification (uses images/selfies to see that a person presenting the ID is the same as the picture on the ID)
• One-time passcode verification (sends a passcode to the user via SMS or email to ensure that the person proceeding matches the recipient of the text or email)
• Knowledge-based authentication (generates questions based on the person's credit file such as what color their car is, where they went to college, etc)
• Trusted identity networks (verify the applicant's credentials with another provider of similar services)

These strategies mitigate fraud by providing the seller with information about the person applying. They ensure that the person isn't using a fake image to gain access to services. They also ensure that the person is the same individual who has purchased other services under the name that they are using.

All of these efforts stop people from purchasing others' identities and using them to gain access to services that they otherwise would not be able to (or would need to pay fees to use).

Access Identity Verification Services Today

Now that you know about identity verification services and how they mitigate fraud, it's time to begin getting the best tools for your business.

Contact us with any remaining questions that you have about verifying identity and to discuss the digital software that you can phase to confirm that those using your services are legitimate. We are committed to ensuring that both your business and clients are safe and secure, so don't hesitate to reach out.